Sunomono and Aemono: Japanese Vinegar and Dressed Salads

Ingredients

• For the cucumber sunomono
• 2 Japanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp fine salt, for wilting
• For the sanbaizu
• 60 ml rice vinegar
• 60 ml mirin
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml dashi, optional, for rounding
• For the goma-ae dressing
• 80 g white sesame seeds, toasted, then ground to a smooth paste
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 30 ml mirin
• 1 tsp sugar
• For the shira-ae dressing (optional variation)
• 300 g firm tofu, excess water pressed out until approximately 60% of moisture is removed
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 30 ml mirin
• 20 g white sesame paste
• For the sunomono garnish
• 20 g dried wakame, rehydrated, squeezed dry
• For the tosazu variation
• 10 g katsuobushi, steeped in warm sanbaizu for 10 minutes, then strained

Method

1. 1
   Slice the cucumbers thinly and toss with fine salt. Leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze firmly in the hands until substantially dry. Rehydrate wakame, squeeze dry by the same method. Both ingredients must yield no visible pooling moisture when pressed — any residual water will dilute the sanbaizu beyond recovery.
2. 2
   Combine rice vinegar, mirin, and soy sauce in equal parts (1:1:1) to produce the sanbaizu. If using dashi, add it now and stir. Taste: the dressing must register as distinctly tart but with a clear sweet-savoury balance. The soy should be perceptible but not dominant; if the colour is dark amber rather than pale gold, soy has been over-measured and will overwhelm delicate ingredients.
3. 3
   For goma-ae, grind toasted sesame seeds in a suribachi or food processor to a smooth, cohesive paste — this is where the dish lives or dies. A partially ground, gritty paste cannot be recovered by further mixing and will produce an unpleasant mouthfeel against the vegetables. The paste is ready when it holds together as a dense, aromatic mass with no discrete whole seeds visible. Combine with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar; stir until uniform.
4. 4
   For shira-ae, press the tofu aggressively — wrapped in a cloth and weighted — until approximately 60% of its moisture is expelled. The block should feel firm and dry to the press rather than yielding and wet. Blend or pass through a sieve to a smooth cream, then combine with soy sauce, mirin, and sesame paste.
5. 5
   For tosazu (the richer sunomono dressing suited to octopus or thick cucumber), steep katsuobushi in the warm, freshly made sanbaizu for 10 minutes off the heat. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the flakes. The liquid should carry a distinct smoky, marine depth beneath the rice vinegar brightness.
6. 6
   Dress sunomono ingredients (cucumber, wakame, seafood) immediately before service: combine the squeezed ingredients with sanbaizu or tosazu in a bowl and transfer at once to serving vessels. Dress aemono vegetables — which must be at room temperature, not cold, so that the sesame paste coats evenly rather than seizing — with goma-ae or shira-ae at the same last moment. The dish is ready when each piece is visibly coated and the dressing clings rather than pools at the base of the bowl.